Catch Up post #3 --- Family Time in Austin

Atul and Robyn

Robyn and Dianne

Texas State Capitol in the Midst of Austin as viewed from the UT Tower

Roger here....  Leaving all the sadness and anger behind, Dianne and I drove to Austin where we spent a long weekend with our daughter, Robyn, and her husband, Atul.  They flew in from L.A. We picked them up at the airport.

Our rooms were at an Embassy Suites.  Swans greeted us every time we entered or departed the hotel.

The view outside our room door was of the lobby below.

Atul was a student at the University of Texas so he was able to re-live some of his college memories.  He was destined to be the tour guide for our visit.  

During the first day we walked along the river and...

.... admired some of the street art.

The view of the tower at the University of Texas was a good preview of things to come.

We ate dinner that night at a family-owned brew pub. It was open when Atul was in Austin, but was absorbed into a larger brewery.  Very recently, it re-opened under family control.  

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS... 

During our stay, we visited the University of Texas several times.  

Atul led us all over the 

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He took us to the Harry Ransom Center where we saw one of only 48 surviving Gutenberg Bibles.  Oh wow, history!

Atul was a student tour guide, back in the day.  A special highlight was a guided tour to the top of the tower.  The tower, which was originally the campus library, had not been open for visitors for many years, so this was something new for Atul.

During my younger days, the University of Texas football team was virtually unbeatable.  They were never expected to lose a game under the leadership of head coach Daryl Royal.  At least that is my recollection.  The picture below depicts Daryl Royal Stadium from the top of the tower.

This is a great picture from the tower of Atul's dorm during his freshman year.  It was actually an entire village unto itself.

BAT DAY....

One of the things you must always do while in Austin is watch the millions of Mexican Free Tail Bats take their evening flight from underneath the Congress Street Bridge.  However, we must be well-fed to enjoy such a spectacle :-)

Our choice was the Hula Hut.

It is always fun to eat on a pier with water on all sides.  This place is a hoot .... lots of atmosphere.

Bright colors and lights in every direction.

After dinner we walked around the marina to see a view of the restaurant from the water.

Dianne just happened to walk into this picture that I was taking of the marina, making it a usable photo.  Time to move on.  Twilight is in the offing.  We need to drive to the Congress Street Bridge!

After parking, we approached the iconic bridge and this bat statue.  We were a bit early so we ducked into the Yeti store and looked at a variety of expensive items that we would not be purchasing.  

As dusk approached we moseyed (Texas term) on over to the bridge.  There are 3 ways to watch the bats.  We opted to watch from the bridge.  Others waited along the river bank.

For a water view, you could hop on an excursion boat, or paddle a kayak.  The bridge was packed.  The bats did not disappoint. 

The video below does not do it justice, but you can get an idea:

On our way back to the car, Atul mentioned that Robyn wanted ice cream.  I always want ice cream.  So off we went to Amy's, near the UT campus.

As it turns out, Amy's is a popular place, AND it was National Ice Cream Day.  Needless to say, there was a line.  One guy in the line thought he would be getting a free cone. He was not happy.  The ice cream was excellent.  After you choose your flavor, the scoopers pound your selected toppings into the ice cream.  Fun to watch.  Better to eat!

Let it be known that Dianne and I were out on the town after dark!  

BRUNCH AND GOSPEL MUSIC AT STUBBS...

If you have ever heard of Stubb's Barbecue Sauce, this is a photo of his restaurant.  It is in the live music part of town.  Atul reserved Sunday Brunch seats for us with live gospel music.  Robyn and Atul have treated us to many experiences that we never imagined that we would get to do in Los Angeles.  Now they did the same thing in Austin.  What fun this was.

Dianne is pouring her selected bloody mary mix  from the "fix your own bloody mary" bar.  Lots of veggies here that count as a salad.

Dianne's healthy choices from the buffet were yummy.  I am ashamed to show you my unhealthy brisket with eggs. (Even worse, I went back for seconds).  We are now buying Stubb's barbecue sauce and frozen foods from our local HEB.

The one thing that made the meal special was the live gospel music.  It was a unique and special experience for us.  

THE LAST DAY....

Robyn and Atul had a late afternoon flight, so after we checked out of the hotel, we jumped in the car for some last minute time together. 

Robyn found a place to eat lunch in the eclectic South Congress area.  We re-crossed the bat bridge, and found this nice relaxing place.  Dianne again ordered healthy.

Actually my food approached healthy, as well.  

After lunch we drove back into the city to wander around the historic and so very classy Driskill Hotel.  Endless Texas and national historical events have taken place in this hotel.

Dianne and I used to be addicted to the TV series, Dallas.  We particularly enjoyed the Cattle Baron's Suite.  Was this the location of the Cattle Baron's Ball?  We were not able to find J.R.

It was almost time to say goodbye (until the next time) to Robyn and Atul.  We love them.  We are so very fortunate to have them --- our daughter, our son.

The Happy Newlyweds

For us, the drive to Austin is either a day, or a more relaxed day and a half.  We chose the later option.

Our trip would not have been possible without the support of our neighbors at Retama Village.  When Tequila was ill and at the veterinarian, we cancelled our boarding arrangements for the dogs and assumed that we would not be going to Austin.

After her passing, we hoped to reschedule our trip to Austin, but the boarding facility was then full.  Bandido had no place to stay.  Our neighbors stepped up.  They took turns walking, feeding, and playing with Bandido at our house.  Without their help, we would not have been able to go.  Thanks so much to Bob, Linda, Stuart, Lynn, Don and Sue.  

Thank you dinner at a local steak house

One more "catch up" post to come.

PET PICTURES OF THE DAY...

After our return home we discovered that Bandido's Bark Box had been delivered.  The delivery of a Bark Box is a HUGE deal for Bandido.  So much so that any brown box delivery sends him into a frenzy.  The photo below shows him with one of his new toys.

 We will fill y'all in later about
our new little girl, 
P
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Needless to say, we are adjusting extremely well.

San Diego, part one --- fun with Robyn and Atul

Atul and Robyn --- soon to be married.  Happy days now.  Happy days ahead.

Roger here...   The last couple of days have been a whirlwind.  Since I have a concrete-sequential personality, let's start at the beginning.

The Last Drive West (on this trip)...  Before leaving El Centro I wanted to share a few things about this interesting town on the Mexican border.  

1. It is an agricultural area.  We neglected to photograph the bright green fields on both sides of I-8.  None of this would be possible without the irrigation canals.

2.  It is the winter home of the Blue Angels.

3.  This is the home of a Cinderella story.  The movie, McFarland,USA, starring Kevin Costner portrays the real-life events of an unlikely, small school, cross country team from El Centro that won the California State Cross Country championship.  I love inspirational stories, especially if they involve small schools.

4.  Last, but not least, it is Cher's hometown.  Dianne swears that she stared at me during a concert at Purdue (we were on the front row) during a time that my mustache resembled Sonny's.

Ok, goodbye El Centro.  The drive to San Diego proved to be another scenic one, although the motor home did not appreciate the continual gear changes.  We drove from below sea level into the mountains up to an elevation of 4000+ feet, and then back down.  The mountains were interesting --- covered with huge boulders.

The driver was ever-vigilant.

When we descended into the San Diego area, the traffic became more of a concern than the mountain drive.  After a few stressful moments, we arrived at our campground, the Santee Lakes Recreational Preserve --- 20 minutes from downtown (but another world).  We will talk more about this confusing, but wonderful campground in another post.

Old Town San Diego with Robyn and Atul...  We set up camp quickly so that we could meet our daughter, Robyn, and her fiancé, Atul in Old Town.

They had taken an Amtrak train from LA to meet us for a few hours in this interesting and historical  place.  After connecting, we walked among the historical buildings at the Old Town San Diego Historical State Park.  This area was the oldest settlement in California.

There was more to see than we could possibly take in, so we wandered through this unique area, stopping as we found something of interest to us.  

This beautiful cathedral was certainly of interest.  We went inside to see the sanctuary. 

Robyn was especially interested in experiencing the Whalen House.  It is the oldest red-brick building in the state of California.

We went inside.  The structure served many purposes.  It was a family home, a store, and a court house. 

The second floor of the house was also a theater, designed with multiple dropping background flats.  Kinda cool!




However, the main reason for Robyn's interest was the claim that it was the most haunted house in California.  Robyn took countless pictures hoping to capture an otherworldly image, like those documented by photographs in the archives of the house.

Do you see the image of a child in one of these windows?

After the haunted house tour, we found a creole restaurant next door.  We had an outdoor New Orleans-style dinner on the other side of the picket fence .  Notice the flowers on the small tree half-way up on the right side the picture.  Dianne was fascinated by them --- for good reason.

The waiter at the restaurant said that these flowers are called Japanese lanterns.

The night sky dimmed after dinner, but not the atmosphere.  

What a magical and festive place --- especially at night.

If Dianne and I come back later this week, and we might, this looked like a good place to eat.

All good things must come to an end.  As the evening ended, we walked Robyn and Atul back to the train station for their three-hour ride back to LA.  The good news is that we will see the very happy couple again in LA in a week.

Bye, Guys!

Dog Heaven at the Campground...

The next day....  The cupboard was bare and we had not done laundry for 11 days.  It was a "maintenance" day.  I dropped Dianne off at the laundromat and then went to the grocery before picking her back up.  However, prior to that our campground provided Bandido and Tequila with a wonderful place to walk.  No more traipsing through the barren desert for them.

We were following a loop around one end of this very large campground when we spotted these un-manicured palm trees.  This is what our palm trees at Retama Village would look like if they were not kept trimmed.

Just beyond the trees we passed through a gate that opened up to a trail.  A fellow camper told us that the trail was u-shaped and would lead us back to the campground.  Nice.

As we neared the conclusion of the trail, we spotted what appeared to be a groomed dog park ahead.  It was a dog park, and a great one.

This bright green dog park was huge --- an ideal place for Tequila and Bandido to play.  

Tomorrow we will be taking a trolley tour of San Diego, a city we have never visited before.  

Pet Movie of the Day...  Enjoy the fun that Tequila and Bandido (and I) had in this brisk 60 degree climate.  Time to play.